Wow.
At the risk of getting this bumped over to "Politics"...
Bin Laden is still a highly sympathetic individual to a large part of the Arab world. His charisma and vision has driven Al Queda. His ability to remain at-large while the most powerful military in the world makes a very public display of his pursuit is a source of inspiration to his followers, and encourages imitators.
If US forces finally capture him, it sends the message emhatically: "You can run, but you cannot hide." If he slips out of this... or was never there to begin with... the opposite message is just as strong. I don't blame US officials for not promoting this turn of events. If it goes badly, their credibility takes a fatal shot.
Please stop equating Saddam with Bin Laden. Despite the hype, the Iraqi campaign was never "war on terrorism" related. Bin Laden is a general in a borderless war. Saddam was just a gangster.
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"Regret can be a harder pill to swallow than failure .With failure you at least know you gave it a chance..." David Howard
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